Written by: Alex Cox
Directed by: Alex Cox
Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter
Rated: R
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!
Plot
Punk rocker Otto (Emilio Estevez) becomes a repo man and stumbles into an out of this world hunt.
Verdict
Repo Man is campy low budget fun. It's a b-movie at it's core, but smart writing combines multiple genres and unique characters. It turns the zaniness of Used Cars (1980) into a sci-fi film. This fully embraces defying conventions, and it completely works.
Watch it.
Review
This opens with a mysterious car getting pulled over and a police officer looking into the trunk. We don't know what's in the trunk, but it forms the basis of the movie when repo men across the city, including newly recruited repo man Otto, begin chasing the same car for the cash reward.
With the simple twist of making Otto a punk rocker, it provides a lot of levity to the down on his luck loser. It embodies him with a certain toughness, even though he isn't. He quits his boring job, not so subtlety has his girl stolen, and is then tricked into stealing a car for a repo man. He finally arrives home to discover his parents even sent his college fund to a televangelist. With no other options, he becomes a repo man himself.
The movie like punk rock is defiant. This combines the right amount of craziness with jaded repo men, conspiracy theories, and crazy characters. Harry Dean Stanton is Bud, Otto's repo man mentor. Otto's new conspiracy believing girlfriend stays at "The United Fruitcake Outlet."
The low budget effects add to the charm. It's something a modern day movie could do and feel like a throwback. In this it feels like part of the humor. A government agent has a 'metal hand', which is just a glove with sequins. Even all the consumables are in plain white packing with blue lettering denoting "food" or "beer."
Various repo men are chasing a Chevy Malibu with an unknown treasure or weapon in the trunk. When the car is finally located, everyone shows up, the scientists, repo men, government agents, and even the televangelist. The conclusion is just as absurd as the movie.
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